Editorial: Taking politics out of politics

The Oklahoma Academy has a pretty good idea. And since Tuesday is an election day, it’s a good time to take note.

Participants in the most recent Oklahoma Academy Town Hall, Oklahomans who represent all corners of the state and all walks of life, tackled the voting process and attempted to identify what would make it better. The group consisted of 260 men and 201 women; 216 Republicans, 204 Democrats and 40 independents and Libertarians. Ninety-five percent of them voted in the 2016 presidential election. That group held 24 listening sessions and were asked to list the top three barriers and solutions regarding the election process, voter access, and voter engagement.

If it’s possible to summarize what the group concluded, it might be that Oklahoma should take some of the politics out of politics.

To simplify the election process the Academy recommended open primaries, a nonpartisan group to review the wording of state questions, and automatic voter registrations with a driver’s license or state ID, as well as the ability to register online.

Voter access could be improved, the group said, with more early voting sites, online voting or mail-in voting without notarization, and free public transportation on election days.

Thirdly, the Academy said voter engagement would be improved by requiring K-12 civics education in public schools, a central location for unbiased information, and open primaries.

Note that open primaries – more specifically, the Academy is calling for a nonpartisan blanket primary – came up as a solution in two categories, voter engagement and a simplified election process. Under that system, candidates from all parties would appear on a single ballot with the top two vote-getters moving on to the general election. That system tends to reduce partisanship among voters, reduce the number of elections voters are asked to participate in, and open the system to a wider variety of candidates.

The other big issue discussed in the Academy’s Issue Brief was that an independent, nonpartisan commission should be established to set voting districts and minimize gerrymandering, which was found to discourage both voters and potential candidates from participating.

Oklahoma ranks 51st of the 50 states and District of Columbia in voter engagement. The Academy’s well-researched opinion is that party roles are too strong in state and that more people would be involved if voting was easier and the process less partisan.

We support the Academy’s conclusions and favor greater balance in Oklahoma’s political system.